Inclusion in the Faroese public school: From political vision to practice in tension between general education and special needs education

• Main Authors: Poulsen, Frida, PhD in Educational Sciences
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: Danish
• Published: AU Library Scholarly Publishing Services 2023
• Subjects: Inclusive education; Faroese public school; School policy and practice; Inclusive education with an ecological perspective; Studying inclusive education with Situational Analysis; Faroe Islands
• Online Access: https://ebooks.au.dk/aul/catalog/book/496

The research study focused on exploring the development of inclusive education in the Faroese public school from political vision to practice. The study used Situational Analysis as its theoretical and methodological framework and involved interviewing 97 actors in the Faroese school system and analysing school policy documents. The study aimed to understand how the global vision of inclusion is transferred, translated and transformed in the local environment of the Faroe Islands as a very small society. The study revealed the absence of overarching initiatives and leadership to promote inclusive education in the Faroese school system. This is partly explained through the Faroese culture and the close relationship between culture/practice and the political sector in a small society like the Faroe Islands. The research raises the question of where the impetus for initiating and motivating inclusive development processes should come from. Although the Faroe Islands is a small society with a historical dependency on Denmark, it is also part of the global world and inspired by international policies and research that affect its practice. Hence, despite being subject to the basic conditions of a small society, there are also points of similarity with the international environment. The findings reveal that the development of inclusive education in the Faroe Islands finds itself caught in the middle of cross-pressures from different and divergent global school policy trends and special features of local policy practice and local traditions and culture. The study argues that inclusive education should be an issue for an overarching school policy that applies to the entire school environment. It provides insights into pupils' perspectives, which can contribute to developing inclusive education. If pupils are listened to and heard as experts in their school lives, we can understand what it takes to achieve inclusion. In our search for effectiveness and quality of school life, pupils' perspectives can serve as a ...